Using COHO Finances for Property and Rent Management

COHO Finances is the control hub for your business's cash flow. If you are a Landlord or run a Rent2Rent business, you can quickly gain an overview of your profitability through our reporting tool. As a managing agent, you can take advantage of our settlement area to gain full control over your organisation's, clients', and suppliers' money.

The series of videos below will give you a full insight into how to best utilise and take advantage of the quite incredible finance module that sits at the heart of COHO.

Last updated: 16th March 2023

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An introduction to COHO Finances

We have broken COHO Finances down into specific use cases depending on your business type, but do be sure to watch this introduction and the video on setting property ownership regardless of your business type. Please note that this series does not extend to the connections that we have with accounting software, which will be handled on a dedicated page.

Before you can start using the COHO Finances module, you have to set the property ownership status on each property. Please refer to the “How to set your property ownership” video below.

1. Set property ownership

Ahead of being able to use the finances module of COHO it is vital that you set the property ownership details against each of the properties in your account. If you do not do this, then no information will be pulled through into the finances area.

  1. From the main home page of the app, click the property that you want to add property ownership information to
  2. From the quick access panel click the property ownership button
  3. Click the add property ownership information button to open up the options
  4. You will be prompted to select one of the following three options;
    • Owned
    • Managed
    • Master lease
  5. If you select managed or master lease, then you will be given the option to add new landlord details or select an existing landlord. As a managing agent, this is particularly important as you'll be able to settle by the landlord at the settlement stage.
  6. Once you have selected the relevant option, click the add button and the details will now be saved and appear under the property ownership area.
  7. Please note that once property ownership is set, it can be edited, but not deleted.

2. Overview of the different areas of COHO Finances

Now that you've set your property ownership information you're all set to start using the finances area within your account.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the finances button in the quick access area.
  2. If you have any properties that you are yet to add ownership information against then you will be presented with a warning at this stage.
  3. The first graphs that you are presented with show you a quick view of your income and expense against your whole portfolio and the expenses breakdown gives you an oversight into how your expenses are split out over a 1 month, 3 month or 6 month period.
  4. Underneath the two graphs you will be presented with three options;
    • Financial Items
    • Profitability reports
    • Settlements
  5. Each area expands by clicking on it and you can then filter by date range, owner, property address and categories. Under financial items you can also split out the view based on organisation, tenant funds and client money via the toggle.
  6. Under Financial Items we sort financial items by date. Click ‘expand’ to view the full list of items that are equal to the total figure displayed when the view is collapsed.

3. How to use COHO Finances as a Landlord

In the video and step by step guide below we will show you how to get the most out of the finances area as a landlord, with a specific focus on creating profitability reports to best understand the P&L of your business.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the finances button in the quick access area.
  2. Open up the Financial Items area and select the relevant filters (either select by owner to pull in all properties under one landlord or individual properties).
  3. Set a date from and date to range and click the filterbutton. This will pull in all rent collected during this period, sorted by date range. To expand the view simply click the expand button to the right of the total amount.
  4. To add additional financial items, whether they be an income or an expense click the add a financial item button and select the relevant property.
  5. Under the pre-categorised sections select the one that is most relevant of choose other.
  6. Once selected, use the drop down to select the relevant category or add a new one.
  7. Give it a description NB - This description title is what will be pulled through into the finances area. You can also add notes and select if it's applicable to a specific room.
  8. The invoice date is the date on the contractors or suppliers invoice.
  9. You now need to select if you want to record the supplier. Selected YES if you are selecting a supplier that you use, or will use, regularly. Select NOif it was more of an adhoc purchase, such as buying a kettle from Tesco etc.
  10. If you select YES then you will be given the option to either select a saved supplier or add a new one as well as uploading the invoice and marking whether or not you've paid it and what the total amount was before clicking the save button.
  11. You can now create a Profitability Report, which you can do by;
    1. Open up the Profitability Reports area which sits below Financial Items.
    2. Click create a new profitability report
    3. Set the date from and to range and the property in question and click Save
    4. The full report now download and is recorded in your account.

4. How to use COHO Finances as a Managing Agent

Being a managing agent means that you will have more requirements of COHO Finances than a self-owned or Rent2Rent operator, as you will need to create settlement statements for each of your landlords. In the video and step by step guide below we will show you how to get the most out of COHO if this is you.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the finances button in the quick access area.
  2. Open up the Financial Items area and select the relevant filters (either select by owner to pull in all properties under one landlord or individual properties).
  3. Set a date from and date to range and click the filter button. This will pull in all management fees collected during this period, sorted by date range. To expand the view simply click the expand button to the right of the total amount. You can also toggle whether you wan to see just organisation money or see tenant funds and client money as well.
  4. To add additional financial items, whether they be an income or an expense click the add a financial item button and select the relevant property. The very first question you'll be asked is if it is YOU/YOUR TEAM who provided the service or SOMEONE ELSE.
  5. If you selected YOU/YOUR TEAM then it something your team have handled and so you will be charging for the direct cost of this that will appear as a management fee.
  6. If you select SOMEONE ELSE then follow the steps below;
  7. Under the pre-categorised sections select the one that is most relevant of choose other
  8. Once selected, use the drop down to select the relevant category or add a new one.
  9. Give it a description. NB - This description title is what will be pulled through into the finances area. You can also add notes and select if it's applicable to a specific room
  10. You are asked if you want to absorb the cost, pass it on at cost, mark it up or pass it on with a fee. Select the option that is relevant to you, following the prompts provided.
  11. The invoice date is the date on the contractors or suppliers invoice.
  12. You now need to select if you want to record the supplier. Selected YES if you are selecting a supplier that you use, or will use, regularly. Select NO if it was more of an adhoc purchase, such as buying a kettle from Tesco etc.
  13. If you select YES then you will be given the option to either select a saved supplier or add a new one as well as uploading the invoice and marking whether or not you've paid it and what the total amount was before clicking the save button.
  14. You can now create a Profitability Report, which you can do by;
    1. Open up the Profitability Reports area which sits below Financial Items.
    2. Click create a new profitability report
    3. Set the date from and to range and the property in question and click Save
    4. The full report now download and is recorded in your account.
  15. You can also create a Settlement Statement, which you can do by watching and following the dedicated section on Creating A Settlement.

5. Creating a settlement statement

Settlement Statements are mostly for managing agents as the process of settlement is one that happens between you and your landlord. In order to set up your first settlement we'd encourage you to watch video four above which outlines the steps required to add in all of the financial items that will impact this.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the finances button in the quick access area
  2. Open up the Settlement area and select which landlord you are looking to settle for. Unlike profitability reports, this is driven by landlord and not individual properties.
  3. Click view to the right of the owner and then click the blue create settlement button.
  4. Select your date from and date to range and the settlement date before selecting whether you're settling for both you and the landlord, or just you/your organisation.
  5. By default, the financial items that are pulled in will be ones for the entire portfolio that you manage for the landlord. You can deselect certain items at this stage if you just want to settle on a specific property.
  6. Click the save button which will create a draft settlement.
  7. To view the statement for each party click the folder icon and then download.
  8. If you are happy then click the save button.
  9. You now need to mark whether the amount has been paid/settled or not. To do this, click the folder icon as well and then click Set paid.
  10. Once marked as paid you have the option to Publish the settlement. If your landlord is on COHO then they will be notified of this in their account, and if not you can download it to them and email them a copy.
  11. The statement is saved and can be accessed at any point in the future.

6. How to use COHO Finances as a Master Lease Operator

Using COHO Finances as a master lease or Rent2Rent operator works on a very similar basis to being a landlord. In the video and step by step guide below we will show you how to get the most out of the finances area as a landlord, with a specific focus on creating profitability reports to best understand the P&L of your business.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the finances button in the quick access area.
  2. Open up the Financial Items area and select the relevant filters including if there is a specific property you are focusing on.
  3. Set a date from and date to range and click the filter button. This will pull in all rent collected during this period, sorted by date range. To expand the view simply click the expand button to the right of the total amount.
  4. To add additional financial items, whether they be an income or an expense click the add a financial item button and select the relevant property.
  5. Under the pre-categorised sections select the one that is most relevant or choose ‘other’.
  6. Once selected, use the drop down to select the relevant category or add a new one.
  7. Give it a description. NB - This description title is what will be pulled through into the finances area. You can also add notes and select if it's applicable to a specific room
  8. The invoice date is the date on the contractors or suppliers invoice.
  9. You now need to select if you want to record the supplier. Selected YES if you are selecting a supplier that you use, or will use, regularly. Select NO if it was more of an adhoc purchase, such as buying a kettle from Tesco etc.
  10. If you select YES then you will be given the option to either select a saved supplier or add a new one as well as uploading the invoice and marking whether or not you've paid it and what the total amount was before clicking the save button.
  11. You can now create a Profitability Report, which you can do by;
    1. Open up the Profitability Reports area which sits below Financial Items.
    2. Click create a new profitability report
    3. Set the date from and to range and the property in question and click Save
    4. The full report now download and is recorded in your account.
  12. You can also create a Settlement Statement for your master lease landlord if required, which you can do by watching and following the dedicated section on Creating A Settlement.

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